'We get cussed at every day': Maui tourist surge raises tensions, renews calls for visitor limits, new fees

HAIKU, Hawaii – Early-rising tourists started pulling into the small parking lot at Twin Falls at Wailele Farm, one of the first Instagramable stops on the all-day adventure that is the road to Hana, before 7 a.m. on the last day in June.

Ute Viole, the ranger and unofficial historian on the privately owned farm, rushed around arranging orange and yellow cones on the edges of the lot in a bid to prevent visitors from parking haphazardly on the side of the winding, single-lane road after the 43 spaces filled up, as they do every day by 8 a.m.

Her supporting role as traffic cop, always a challenge at the free waterfall and hiking spot, has become a thankless job as cooped-up travelers return to Maui in numbers approaching pre-pandemic levels, and its former overflow lot is closed because of nearby construction. Twin Falls is suddenly turning away droves of visitors, and some don't take rejection lightly.